The invention resides in a motor vehicle with two longitudinal projecting frame members which are connected in a force-transmitting fashion to a deformable vehicle front wall which extends from a deformation-resistant transverse beam disposed below a windshield downwardly to the leg room of a vehicle driver and passenger compartment. It also includes a pedal arrangement with pedals which are pivotally supported by at least one support block which is mounted to the front wall above the area where the longitudinal beams are connected to the front wall and means by which the movement of the pedal during an accident is controlled.
Such a vehicle is known from DE 195 22 398 C1. In order to prevent a tube surrounding the steering shaft of a steering column from tilting up during an accident the pedal arrangement includes deflection means by way of which the pedal arrangement is deflected in a controlled manner when it is pushed back during an accident. The deflection means are properly positioned by a coupling of their movement with a brake pedal of the pedal arrangement.
Motor vehicles in the form of passenger cars are generally known. They have longitudinal forwardly projecting frame members which, at their rear end, are connected in a force-transmitting fashion to a front wall which separates the passenger compartment of the passenger car from the engine compartment. The front wall extends over the width of the passenger compartment and from a transverse beam disposed below the windshield down to a leg space of the passenger compartment. There it is connected to the floor structure of the passenger compartment. A pedal structure, particularly a clutch pedal and a brake pedal are pivotally supported on the front wall such that they extend downwardly from their pivot support. The pedals are supported by a common support block which is mounted on the front wall below the transverse beam, but above the area where the longitudinal beams are connected to the front wall. The pedals are pivotally supported on the support block.
During a frontal crash of the motor vehicle, the impact energy is transferred to the front wall by way of the longitudinal frame members, whereby the front wall is deformed and pushed into the passenger compartment. As a result of this deformation, the pedal support block is at the same time tilted about an imaginary pivot axis, which extends horizontally and transversely to the vehicle closely adjacent to the deformation resistant transverse beam, toward the rear and upwardly with respect to the normal travel direction of the vehicle. As a result, also the pedals are tilted backwardly and upwardly whereby they protrude into the passenger leg room in such a way that the legs and feet of the driver of the motor vehicle could be injured.
In order to avoid such injuries, it is known particularly for the brake pedal arrangement of passenger cars, (DE 28 41 988 C1) to provide a front wall area of the passenger car in such a way that a brake force amplifier including the pedal associated therewith is tilted downwardly during a frontal crash. This, however, requires a specially shaped front wall.
A similar pedal arrangement is also known from DE 44 15 642 A1. In this case, the brake force amplifier including the associated brake pedal are made to tilt downwardly during a frontal crash by a front wall design provided with a predetermined bend area. Alternatively, DE 195 15 852 A1 discloses a brake pedal arrangement, wherein the tilting movement of the brake pedal during a frontal crash is counteracted by a pyrotechnically effective control member.
JP 06 2866 59 A discloses a pedal arrangement for a motor vehicle whose pedals are tilted forwardly during a vehicle crash.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a motor vehicle with longitudinally projecting frame members wherein the chances that the legs of a driver are injured by pedal structures extending into the leg room during a crash are greatly reduced without special shaping of the front wall on which the pedal structure is mounted.